Let the buyer beware

Friday, April 2, 2010 | 2:06 a.m.

Americans shopping for appliances and electronic goods often look for the blue Energy Star sticker, a sign that the product is energy efficient. The federal government has used the program to promote energy conservation and has given consumers tax credits and rebates when they buy certain Energy Star products.

But some products displaying the Energy Star label may be anything but energy efficient, as the Government Accountability Office reported last month.

The Energy Star program, which is run by the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, requires products to meet energy-efficiency levels that are 10 percent to 25 percent higher than federal standards. However, the government hasn’t required independent testing of many products, and its system for certifying products is vulnerable to fraud, the GAO said.

In its investigation, the GAO set up four fictional companies and applied to become Energy Star “partners.” Within two weeks, the four companies were granted that status, allowing them to apply for Energy Star certification for their products. The GAO submitted Energy Star applications for 20 bogus products. Two were rejected, three did not receive a response. The other 15 fake products were given certification, including:

• A gasoline-powered alarm clock that was the size of a small generator.

• A room air cleaner that was actually a space heater with a feather duster and fly strips attached.

• A geothermal heat pump that boasted to be 20 percent more efficient than any similar Energy Star-rated product.

Nine of the products would have been eligible for tax credits or rebates because of the Energy Star certification, which largely relies on manufacturers’ testing results and self-policing. As well, the program never checked out the manufacturers. The GAO set up phone lines and had addresses for the companies, yet no one from the Energy Star program called or visited.

This is not the first time serious problems have been found with the Energy Star program. In 2007 the EPA’s inspector general found that the program lacked quality assurance and proper oversight. Since then, both the Energy Department’s inspector and Consumer Reports found problems with testing as well as lax federal standards.

The Energy Department and the EPA have since announced they would change the program and require more testing. But the fact that this has gone on so long is troubling.

People buy Energy Star-certified products because they expect to save money on their energy bills. If the federal government is not doing its duty, people are in danger of being duped and the government is out money in the form of unwarranted tax credits and rebates.

It is beyond time the government move swiftly to tighten the Energy Star program’s requirements and restore consumer confidence.